
Th 



ugoslavs of Cleveland 



With a Brief Sketch of their Historical 
and PoUtical Backgrounds 

By 

Eleanor E. Ledbetter 




PRICE, 25 CENTS 



Under the Direction of the 

Cleveland Americanization Committee 
Mayor's Advisory War Committee 



Other Publications: 

Americanization of Cleveland 

Report of Work of the Cleveland Americanization 

Committee, 1917-1918 

The Slovaks of Cleveland 

Lessons on American Citizenship 



Address: 

Cleveland Americanization Committee 
Room 226, City Hall, Cleveland 



The 

Jugoslavs of Cleveland 

With a Brief Sketch of their Historical 
and PoHtical Backgrounds 

By 

Eleanor E. Ledbetter 

Librarian Broadway Branch 
Cleveland Public Library 




Under the Direction of the 

Cleveland Americanization Committee 
Mayor's Advisory War Committee 



Copyright 1918 

by 

The Mayor's Advisory War Committee 
Cleveland, Ohio 



m 23 1919 



'CI.Ar)14412 



Foreword 

THE dissolution of the ancient realm of the Hapsburgs is giving to 
the American people a bit of long neglected instruction in European 
nationalism. With the breaking of the bonds of dynastic rule there have 
arisen several nations rich in historical traditions and full of significant 
influence in the formation of a new Europe. The Czecho-Slovaks were the 
first to arrest our attention; the Jugoslavs have become equally famed. 
Both groups are very largely represented in the foreign bom population of 
the United States, but few of us distinguished them from the other races of 
Eastern Europe. The surprising lack of knowledge among Americans of 
the peoples who have sought homes in this country may be the chief reason 
why assimilation has been so long delayed. When sympathy and under- 
standing were not to be found among Americans the newcomers sought it 
among their own kind. Hence, "foreign colonies" and the widely heralded 
failure of the melting pot. 

The Cleveland Americanization Committee deems the dissemination 
among the native bom of accurate information concerning the foreign groups 
one of the first steps in Americanization. In working out the process of 
making a new nation out of many diverse groups the intelligent sympathy 
of Americans is nseded first of all. Before we can teach we must under- 
stand. To the end that this understanding may be based upon accurate 
and accessible information the Americanization Committee has undertaken 
the preparation of a nvimber of studies of the national groups residing in 
Cleveland. The first of these dealt with the Slovaks; the one presented 
herein with the Jugoslavs. The cordial reception accorded the first of 
them justifies a belief that this series may be a real contribution in the in- 
terpretation of the foreign bom to Americans. 

Raymond Moley, 

Chairman. 






,«;;•■;..' 






The Jugoslavs 



ONE of the real benefits which the people of America are deriving from 
the Great War is an increased interest in world politics. Isolated 
by our geographical position, we have hitherto been provincial in the extreme, 
and our international relations have not been intimate enough to cause us 
to realize the depths of our ignorance. 

Now that Fate has forced us into a place where we must take note of 
European politics, we are adding to our stores of knowledge by leaps and 
bounds. Knowledge produces sympathy, and we are fast losing the smug 
complacency with which we regarded ourselves as the original patrons of 
liberty. We are learning that there are in Europe many peoples who for 
centuries have struggled for liberty, whose struggles have been infinitely 
greater in proportion to their nimibers, and to the odds against them, than 
ours was, and have lasted for centuries instead of \'ears. We have not known 
of them before for the tragic reason that they have never been successful. 

Hapsburg and Hohenzollern stand for political despotism, and only 
since the war opened our eyes have we begun to realize how unhappy has 
been the lot of the freedom-wishing peoples who have been among the sub- 
jects of these tyrants. 

"Gerrjinander" is an American word, but the idea was old in Central 
Europe before this republic was founded. Austria systematically kept her 
subject races impotent by subdividing them so that they would be powerless. 
And then by Machiavellian methods which we are just beginning to appreci- 
ate, she secretly instigated jealousies and dissensions among those arti- 
ficially created divisions. 

The fiery furnace of the present conflict has melted away these artificial 
causes of dissension, and has brought the leaders of every race to a clear and 
unprejudiced view of the essentials of its own situation, and of its relations to 
its kindred, to its neighbors and to its masters. 

Therefore we see two great coalitions formed in the Austro-Hungarian 
empire, the Czecho-Slovak in the north, and the Jugoslav in the south. 
(Jugo, pronounced you-go, means south.) 

The Slav Race. 

The Slav race is divided into two main divisions; the first, called the 
western division, includes Bohemians, Slo\'aks, and Poles. The eastern and 
southern division includes Russians, Ruthenians, Bulgarians, Serbians, Croa- 
tians and Slovenians. 

It is the last three who constitute the Jugoslavs, the Bulgarians having, 
through their Coburg monarch and his misplaced ambition, forfeited all 
Slavic fellowship. 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

The Serbians, the Croatians, and the Slovenians are racially the same 
people, but have long been divided into these three groups through the political 
conditions to which they have been subject. 

The districts inhabited by them in Austria-Hungary alone, are split up 
into eleven provincial administrations, coming under thirteen legislative 
bodies. Railroad construction has not been permitted along the natural 
trade routes which would have facilitated intercommunication among the 
Jugoslavs. Instead, all railroad and road construction has been aimed at 
increasing their subjection to Austria and Hungary, creating an economic 
dependence as artificial and unnecessary as the political. Add to the dis- 
advantages of these conditions, the denial of free speech and political repre- 
sentation, and one can easily see why these people have not hitherto been able 
to achieve concerted action. 

Religion, too, has been a source of separation, the Serbians and Montene- 
grins having retained church traditions and practices as received from Byzan- 
tium, while the Slovenes and Croats came under the influence of Rome, and 
became Roman Catholic. This involves the secular differences incident to 
the use on the part of the Serbs of the Cyrillic alphabet and the eastern calen- 
dar, fourteen days behind the Roman. These are the only differences between 
the Serbs and Croats; the terms Serbo-Croat is often used to indicate their 
unity. The spoken language is identical for the two races. The written 
languages look different because of the different alphabets. 

Political Conditions in Europe. 

It has been the policy of the Austro-Hungarian government to foster every 
possible source of difference among these people in order to prevent any 
unity of action. For she has always known that their united strength would 
be too much for her. The attack upon Serbia which formed the pretext for 
the beginning of the war, had its motive in the increase of South Slav s>Tn- 
pathy, which Austria feared would develop into a union of effort. 

In America we are just learning the meaning and the possibilities of 
propaganda, but the whole world has been influenced by Austrian propa- 
ganda regarding her subject races and their brothers, who, as Austria's 
independent neighbors, have been objects of jealousy and fear. Serbia was 
hated, not so much for her own sake, as because of the Serbs within the 
monarchy, whose desire for liberty and political freedom was constantly 
stimulated by proximity to brother Serbs in a free state. 

Even the quarrelsomeness of the Balkans, which the world at large has 
been inclined to accept as evidence of political unfitness, becomes a much 
less serious matter when one sees how much of it has been "made in Austria". 

The truth of the matter is that the whole world owes an unrequitable 
debt to the Balkan Jugoslavs, who have been for thirteen centuries the 
outposts of Christian civilization. 

The Jugoslavs the Bulwark of Christendom. 

In the year 620, the Emperor Heraclius invited their settlement south 
of the Danube, to form a barrier between Byzantium and the rushing hordes 
of northern barbarians. After the fall of the Byzantine empire and the 
shifting of civilization's center to the north, their work remained still to 
protect civilization and the Christian religion, but now from the Turks, who 
were assailing it from the east. 

6 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF C L !■ V E L A N D 

From the surrender of Byzantium to the very present, the Jugoslav 
peoples have been the bulwark of Christendom, protecting it at all times; 
when not able to protect completely, still taking the first shock, and so break- 
ing the force of the Turkish attacks upon central Europe. They have spent 
and been spent in the service of Christendom, not once only, but through 
the constant struggles of a thousand years. Until 1869 a large part of 
Croatia was organized as a "Military Frontier," its residents formed into 
military units, always on call for the protection of the border from the Turk. 
It was not until 1881 that this system was completely done away with, and 
Croatian men permitted the ordinary civil life of other men. 

It is impossible in this brief sketch to outline the history of the various 
South Slav states, interesting as it would be. We can only indicate a few of 
the most striking events. 

History. 

The Slovenes were the first to develop an independent state, the heart 
of which was in the present province of Carinthia. Conquered by Charle- 
magne in 778, they were never again able to establish themselves in 
a commanding position, and eventually came under the control of the House 
of Hapsburg. Napoleon's Kingdom of Illyria, uniting all the Slovene lands, 
and including with them some Croats and Serbs, was a true Jugoslav state, 
and fired national ambitions never since extinguished. Napoleon's astute- 
ness led him to form this state as a check upon Austria, and a link between 
France and the East, a mission which is still open and still needed. 

Croatia was among the nations of the earth during the ninth and tenth 
centuries, but brought oblivion upon herself when she elected Kolomon, King 
of Hungary, as King also of Croatia, in 1102. From that time, Croatia, 
while ostensibly an autonomous kingdom, was gradually reduced to practically 
the condition of a vassal state. 

Bosnia and Serbia were great kingdoms during the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries, and between them included most of the Balkan penin- 
sula. The Turkish tide, however, rose higher and higher — grew ever fiercer 
and more overwhelming, until on Jime 28, 1389, it swept over the Serbs at 
the battle of Kossovo, and their kingdom was submerged. Resistance, how- 
ever, was kept up for sixty years longer, until in 1459, Serbia ceased to exist. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina fell before the end of the century, and the Christian 
Slavs of the Balkans disappeared for three hundred years. 

Turkish Subjection. 

They disappeared, but they did not cease to exist. The national church 
was fortunately spared them, and furnished a nucleus for the preservation of 
the national life, while a line of national bards, called gnslari, passed on in 
epic form the great events of the national history. It is said to be extra- 
ordinary how much national history is known by even the poorest and most 
illiterate of Serbian peasants, simply because he has so often heard these 
oral recitals. 

The nobility, exposed to the greatest persecutions, became extinct, and 
the Serbians became a race of peasants. In the latter part of the 17th Cen- 
tury, some accepted the invitation of the Hungarian sovereign and moved 
across the border into Hungary. But his promises proved insincere, and the 
migrating Serbs found themselves tricked, and consideration given to them 
only when they were needed to defend the country against the Turks. 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 




Cleveland Jugoslav Ladies in Native Costume, with Proposed Flag of Jugoslavia 

Throughout this whole period of subjection to the Turks, the Serbian 
people maintained organized bands called "Hajduks," who kept up a con- 
stant guerilla warfare, and sometimes checked but oftener avenged the cruel 
persecutions visited upon the civil populations by the Turks. These ha jdiiks 
became national heroes, and their exploits were celebrated and perpetuated 
by the Guslari. 

Thus passed four hundred years. In the latter part of the seventeenth 
century, liberty awoke throughout the world. The success of the American 
and French Revolutions aroused the oppressed in every part of Europe, and 
the surge toward freedom was manifest in every part of the Jugoslav territory. 



The Struggle for Freedom. 

Serbia was the first to rise. In 1804, under Kara George, the founder of 
the present dynasty, she began the struggle for independence, which, through 
many adversities, has known no more tragic years than the last four. 

The renascence of the Slovenians and Croatians was greatly promoted 
by Napoleon's recognition of their strategic importance which resulted in his 
creation of their territory into the "Illyrian Provinces." If his fall had been 
postponed, it seems probable that a strong Jugoslav state might have devel- 
oped at this time. The Congress of Vienna put an end to this possibility, 
but it could not destroy the stimulated national consciousness. Literary 
and political revivals followed, and from that time to this, the Slovenians 
have maintained a constant political struggle in Austria, the Croatians an 
equally bitter one in Hungary. 

Montenegro, which had never been entirely conquered, secured com- 
plete emancipation from the Turk in 1830; Bosnia and Herzegovina, strug- 
gling continuously for fifty years, found their efforts frustrated by the 
Congress of Berlin, which ignored their claims to freedom, and simply gave 
them a change of masters. Between Turk and Austrian, they have found 
little to choose. 

These are the historic backgrounds of the Jugoslav peoples. It is easy 
to see how attractive to them must have been the reports of political and 
economic freedom in America. 



THE 



JUGOSLAVS 



O F 



CLEVELAND 




Slovenian Sokol 

Emigration. 

The first to make the great venture in any numbers were the Slovenians, 
who, in 1866, founded a farming colony in Brockway, Minn. Rev. J. J. 
Oman, pastor of St. Lawrence Slovenian Church, Cleveland, is a child of this 
colony. Other Slovenian groups followed to America, but the number was 
small until the late SO's, when the Slovenian tide began to set in, and Cleveland 
has ever since been an important center of Slovenian immigration. 

Some Croatians also came about this time, but their number did not 
increase rapidly until about 1900. The Serbians have come much more 
recently, probably all since 1910, and they are from the oppressed provinces 
of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, not from the kingdom of Serbia. 

The Jugoslavs at the Beginning of the War. 

At the beginning of the present war, some of the Jugoslavs in the United 
States, like many of the rest of us, failed to sec all the issues clearly. Among 
them the habit of obedience to the Austro-Hungarian government was still 
strong. Austro-Hungarian agents in this country took every possible ad- 
vantage of this fact. They endeavored to recruit and send men to the Aus- 
trian army, and when that was not possible, extorted as much money as possi- 
ble for the Austrian cause. These agents published their own newspapers 
and carried on extensive propaganda. They threatened American Jugoslavs 
with procedure under the Austrian martial laws, and frequently put these 
threats into execution against families and properties in Austria. The Jugo- 
slav in this country, desiring to espouse actively the cause of the allies, was 
obliged to do so with the knowledge that it might mean exile or death to his 
nearest of kin. 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

This unhappy condition developed the need for united action, and the 
first Jugoslav National Convention in the United States was called to meet 
in Chicago, in March, 1915. The movement once launched, other meetings 
were held over the country, and means of self -protection and of self-expression 
were widely discussed. A second convention held in Pittsburg in November, 
1916, found sentiment so much unified and crystallized that it was unani- 
mously decided to place at the disposal of the United States all the resources 
of the Jugoslavs in this country, and a Jugoslav National Council was formed. 
At its head is an executive committee of ten men. Dr. A. Biankini, of 
Chicago, being president. The acting director is the Rev. Niko Grskovic, who 
had long been pastor of St. Paul's Croatian church in Cleveland, and who re- 
signed the duties of the parish to devote himself entirely to the national cause. 
Dr. F. J. Kern, of Cleveland, is also a member of this executive committee. 
It is needless to state that each of these men has a price upon his head in 
Austria-Hungary . 

Jugoslav National Council. 

The following program was adopted at the Pittsburg convention as the 
program of the Jugoslav National Council: 

1. To organize all the Southern Slavs in the United States, removing 
them from the influence of foreign, especially Austro-German agents; to 
endeavor to protect those who are loyal, regardless whetTier they are citizens 
of this country, or had as yet no opportunity to become such, and to keep 
under surveillance those who are suspicious; acting in this respect in accord- 
ance with instructions and wishes of the Federal authorities. 

2. To prepare a census of all Southern Slavs in the United States, 
according to their ages, occupations and qualifications, and to place it at 
the disposal of the Federal authorities. 

3. To carry out the recruiting of the Southern Slavs, on behalf of the 
industrial and military preparedness of the United States, and through the 
gymnastical Sokol organizations to bring together and train legions of .volun- 
teers, and prepare them to join the American army. 

4. To support the American Red Cross; to aid and help its countrymen, 
the war victims and in general, the struggle for the liberty of the people. 

5. To conduct an active propaganda for the enlightenment of the 
American public and authoritative factors in regard to true conditions, cir- 
cumstances and aspirations of the Southern Slavs, and thereby to contribute 
to the realization of the high and lofty principles of this country and its 
President, being fully convinced that these principles wall be applied also to 
the people of our race in Europe. 

Jugoslavs in the United States Army. 

As a consequence of the effective work of the Council, fear of Austrian 
retaliation became a nightmare of the past, and when the United States 
officially entered the war, her citizens of Jugoslav origin boldly rallied to the 
banner of freedom. It will be recalled that at first we declared war only up- 
on Germany, and many men who were technically subjects of Austria-Him- 
gary enlisted in our armies. Then when a declaration of war was made against 
Austria-Hungary, these men became technically "enemy aliens," and as 
such were offered their discharge from the service. There were many such 
men at Camp Sherman, men who were subjects of Austria-Hungary, and who 
did not even speak the English language, who yet at meetings addressed in 

10 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 




REV. NIKO GRSKOVIC 
Jugoslav National Council 



PAUL SCHNELLER 
President Slovenian National Alliance 



their own languages, all expressed their devotion to the cause of freedom, 
and their desire to continue in the United States service. 

It would be difficult to express the sentiments of these men more beau- 
tifully than in the following translation of a letter written in Slovenian by a 
young soldier to his brother in Cleveland: 

Dear Brother: I received the civil clothes sent me from Cleveland; and at the 
same time a thought occurred to me which never left me — that I should feci ashamed to 
leave the army and go back to civil life. Indeed, how I love my young, healthy life: 
how I long to be free again, going on my own ways, without hearing the command of 
another. But, alas, am I justified to think of my own liberty and happy life, when the 
moment is here that calls on every young man to bring liberty to others? Away, you 
selfish thoughts! On into the battle! I am a Slovene myself, and my fathers and 
grandfathers never had an opportunity to fight for liberty. Indeed, they fought for 
hundreds of years under the command of Hapsburgs to continue slavery and tyranny. 
Goodbye, my beloved young life, I shall not return to my happy home until the day has 
come when I can proudly .see the liberated Jugoslavia in a liberated world. Then I 
shall return, conscious that I have done my bit. If I shall perish — I am afraid I will — 
let it be so; the only thing I am sorry about is that I don't possess hvmdreds of lives, 
giving them all for liberty. 

-^-*j Dear brother, the suit of clothes you sent me, I sold today for thirty dollars, to a 
man who thinks less than I do. 

Happy, indeed, is the Jugoslavia who can claim such young men as her 
children, and happy, too, is the United States whose superior opportunities 
have drawn them hither. 

There are now in Cleveland about 40,000 Jugoslavs, including 25,000 
to 30,000 Slovenians and 10,000 to 12,000 Croatians, and 1,000 Serbians. 
Most of them reside along St. Clair Avenue, and in CoUinwood, with some 
exceptions to be noted later. 

11 



' The Slovenians 

i 

THE Slovenians were the first of the Jugoslavs to come to Cleveland, and 
it is hard to imaj^ine why they are so persistently called "Griners". This 
word has no standing and no meaning, except as local usage has established 
one. It may be a corruption of Krajner,' the German name for the inhabi- 
tants of Camiola. Even then it cannot apply to the Slovenians from other 
provinces, such as Carinthia, Istria, Gorizia, Styria and Dalmatia. 

Location in Cleveland. i 

There are now in Cleveland between 25,000 and 30,000 people of this 
race, most of them from Camiola. Their, principal loca]tion is along St. Clair 
Avenue, where they live all the way from East 30th to East 7Sth Streets, with 
probably the greater number east of East 55th Street. A considerable 
number live in Collinwood, and some in NJDttingham, while the oldest, though 
not the largest settlement is between Union Avenue and Aetna Road, on East 
80th, 81st and 82nd Streets. There are about thirty families in Brooklyn 
where the men work in the brickyards, while the ore docks in Randall, and 
the factories in Bedford have drawn perhaps an equal number from the city. 
A group resident on East 14th Street, near Lakeside Avenue, are from a part 
of Hungary adjacent to the province of Styria. 

The history of the development of the Slovenian population of Cleveland 
is like that of most immigrant colonies. First some bold spirits came to spy 
out the land; w^hen they had found it good, they so reported, and others 
followed them. Then the families began to be sent for, and homes took the 
place of boarding houses. 

The First Slovenians. 

John Pintar was the first Cleveland Slovenian. He came first in 1879, 
stayed five months, and returned to Camiola. After four years, the wander- 
lust seized him again, and he made his second trip to America. He joined 
the Slovenian agricultural colony in Ely, Minnesota, for seven months, then 
came again to Cleveland. A few months of prosperity were followed by a dull 
season, when he was laid off, and was unable to find work. Always seeking 
for employment, he started westward, and walked all the way from Cleveland 
to Pueblo, Colorado. Conditions were no better there than here, so in utter 
sickness of heart, he turned around and walked back. He accomplished the 
return trip in sixty-six days, having only such lodging and food as he could 
beg along the way. Now, after a life which seems to have been persistently 
unlucky, he is passing his last days in the Warrensville Infirmary. 

The next Slovenian to come to Cleveland was Joseph Turk, who came 
about 1883, and settled on Marble Avenue, near the steel mills. He was 
soon followed by other men, and his daughter Gertrude, now Mrs. Skebe, 
of 966 Ivanhoe Road, who joined him in 1885, was the first Slovenian woman 
in Cleveland. She came over with a party from their neighborhood, and 
reports that there were thirteen or fourteen Slovenian men here at that time. 

Of the Slovenians now in the city, it is estimated that one-third have been 
here more than fifteen years, one-third between ten and fifteen years, and one- 
third only five or six years. 

13 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 



i 



/^ 



i «•• •" 





LOUIS J. PIRC 
Editor Clevelandska Amerika 



FRANK HUDOVERNIK 
Secretary Slovenian National Alliance 



Occupations in Cleveland. 

It will be noted that their various residence districts are all located in 
the neighborhood of the plants of the American Steel and Wire Company, 
and similar industries. In Collinwood many of them are employed in the 
Lake Shore shops; they are found in all the railroad roundhouses, and brick 
making is another industry in which they furnish much of the labor. 

This necessity for beginning life here as Common laborers comes from 
the total lack of opportunity in their native land. The Slovenians seem, 
however, to have a natural aptitude for business, and the number of merchants 
among them is greater than among any other race whose coming is equally 
recent. There are about four hundred business men, whose stores include, 
besides the usual grocery stores and saloons, dry goods stores, furniture stores, 
jewelr>^ stores and shoe stores. An unusual number of young men are em- 
ployed in the various Cleveland banks. 



Co-Operative Store. 

An interesting business development is the co-operative store at 667 
East 152nd Street, managed by the Slovenian Co-operative Company (Slo- 
venska Zadruzna Zveza). This organization has 125 members, who banded 
together to reduce the high price of groceries in Collinwood. The president 
of the society is Frank Komidar, 12510 Saranac Road, who considers that in 
the five years of its existence, their store has had an appreciable influence 
upon grocery prices in that part of the city. 

14 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

Churches. 

There arc three Slovenian Roman Cathohc Churches in Cleveland; the 
largest of which is St. Vitus, on Norwood Road, at the comer of Glass Avenue. 

St. Vitus parish was fovnided in 1893, and now numbers fully 1,500 
families. The school building, which was recently constructed, is of the most 
approved modem type, and houses the second largest parochial school in the 
diocese, last year's registration having been 1,459. The teachers are sisters 
of Notre Dame. The pastor is Rev. B. J. Ponikvar, who is assisted by Rev. 
Anthony Bombach. St. Vitus' choir maintains a secular organization as 
the singing society ''Lira," whose concerts delight the music lover. The 
president of "Lira" is John Zulic, 1261 Norwood Road. 

St. Lawrence parish was organized Dec. 11, 1901, and the church built 
at 3540 East 81st Street. The church and school rooms are ver>^ much 
crowded, in spite of a new building, which houses part of the school, and more 
extensive buildings will be undertaken as soon as possible after the war. At 
present St. Lawrence parish has an excellent playground for the use of the 
children of the neighborhood, the equipment having been secured through 
the enterprise of the pastor, Rev. J. J. Oman. 

The parish of St. Mary of the Assumption, with its church at 15519 
Holmes Avenue, is the youngest of the Slovenian Churches, and sustained a 
great loss in the tragic death by accident, of its pastor, Rev. Paul Hribar, 
whose place has since been filled by Rev. Joseph Skur. 

There are some protestant Slovenians, many of whom are connected 
with the First Slovenian Baptist Mission, at Glass Avenue and East 61st 
Street. 

The Slovenian clergy are doing their part toward the Americanization 
of their people, and evening school classes have been held under the auspices 
of the Americanization Committee in the parochial schools of St. Vitus and 
St. Lawrence. 

Citizenship. 

Owing to lack of leadership and organization for the development of 
unified sentiment, many Slovenians had neglected to give the proper consider- 
ation to their status as citizens, and consequently found themselves at the 
beginning of the war, in a very awkward situation — in this country, but not 
of it. Most of these men hastened to take out first papers, and will, when 
the way is open, complete their citizenship in the country where they have 
long had all their interests, including the ownership of property. 

Slovenians in Military Service. 

There are more than 400 Cleveland young men of Slovenian parentage 
in the army and navy of the United States, and many others who were not 
American citizens have gone from Cleveland to the Jugoslav army on the 
Saloniki front. The Woman's Jugoslav Union of America (Zveza jugoslov- 
anskih zen V Ameriki) is the Red Cross organization which ministers to the 
Jugoslav army. A shipment of comfort kits is now on its way from Cleve- 
land to the New York headquarters. 

15 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

Newspapers. 

There are three Slovenian newspapers in Cleveland: 
Enakopravnost — a daily published at 0418 St. Clair Avenue. 
Clevelandska Amerika — tri-wcekly, published at 6119 St. Clair Avenue. 
Sloga — weekly, 6120 St. Clair Avenue. 

Building and Loan Association. 

The Slovenian Building & Loan Association, of which Paul Schneller is 
secretary, has offices at 6313 St. Clair Avenue. Its assets are $75,000, and it 
is encouraging and assisting many Slovenians and other Jugosla^'s in 'the 
purchase of property. 

Fraternal Organizations. 

The Slovenians, like the other Slavs, have many fraternal organizations, 
of which the oldest is the Camiolian Slovenian Catholic Union (Krajnsko 
Slovensko Katoliska Jednota) — abbreviated as K. S. K. J.— which was or- 
ganized in Joliet, Illinois, April 2, 1894, and now has 17,000 members, 
capital to the amount of $650,000, and has paid out $1,376,135.32 in benefits. 
It publishes as its official organ "Glasilo K. S. K. J.," which claims to be the 
largest Slovenian weekly in the United States, and is published at 1951 
West 22nd place, Chicago. 

The present officers of the society are Paul Schneller, 6313 St. Clair 
Avenue, Cleveland, president; Joseph Zalar, 1004 North Chicago Street, 
Joliet, Illinois, secretar^^ 

The next society in point of age is the South Slavic Catholic Union ( Jugo- 
slovanska Katoliska Jednota) — J. S. K. J. — with headquarters at Ely, Minne- 
sota, where it was organized in 1898. Its capital is .1274,534.90, of which 
$35,000 is invested in Liberty Bonds. Its present membership is 7,940, and 
it has paid out $1,300,000 in sickness, accident and death benefits. 

Mihael Rovansek, Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, is president; Joseph 
Pishler, secretary, and Rudolf Perdan, 6024 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, 
treasurer. 

The Slovenic National Benefit Society (Slovenska Narodna Podpoma 
Jednota)— S. N. P. J. — was organized in 1904, and has its headquarters at 
2657-2659 South Lawndale Avenue, Chicago. Its capital is $525,000; has 
paid out in benefits $1,029,081. It has over 18,000 members and the officers 
are John Vogric, La Salle, Illinois, ])resident; John Vcrdcrbar, secretary. 

It has 342 branches, distributed as follows: 

Pennsylvania 99 West Virginia 7 Arizona.. 1 

Illinois 48 Wisconsin 7 CaHfomia 1 

Ohio 45 Utah 6 Idaho 1 

Minnesota 25 Washington 6 Kentucky 1 

Kansas 16 Iowa 4 Missouri 1 

Colorado 14 New Mexico 4 New Jersey 1 

Michigan 11 New York 4 Oregon 1 

Montana 11 Oklahoma 4 Texas 1 

Indiana 10 Arkansas 3 Canada 1 

Wyoming 9 

17 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 



In Ohio there are branches in the following places: 



Akron 


East Palestine 


Barberton 


Euclid 


Bellaire 


Fairport 


Blaine 


Girard 


Canton 


Glencoe 


Cleveland 


Garrettsville 


Conneaut 


Lorain 



Randall 
Rittman 
Struthers 
Warren 
West Park 
Wheeling Creek 



Lowellville 

Maynard 

Neffs 

Newark 

Piney Fork 

Power Point 

Ramsay 

Its official organ is the daily "Prosveta," published at the headquarters 
in Chicago. 

The Slovcnic-Croatian Union of the United States and Canada (Slov- 
enska-Hrvatska Zveza V Zdruzenih Drzavah Ameriskih in Canadi) was 
founded January 1, 1903, in Calumet, Michigan, where it has its headquarters 
in the Borgo block on Fifth Street. The president is Frank Gregorich, Dodge- 
ville, Mich. ; the secretary Anton Geshel, Calumet. 

The Slovenian Workingmen's Benefit Union (Slovenska Delavska Pod- 
porna Zveza) w^as founded August 16, 1908, in Johnstown, Pa., and has as its 
present officers: president, Ivan Prostor, 1098 Norwood Road, Cleveland; 
secretary, Blaz Novak, 634 Main Street, Johnstown, Pa.; treasurer, Josip 
Zele, 6502 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland. 

Its assets on Jime 30, 1918, were $158,096.93, of which $45,000 is in- 
vested in Liberty Bonds; and it has paid out in benefits $1,000,000. It has 
146 branches, which includes 7,299 adult members and 4,500 junior mem- 
bers. In Cleveland there are five branches with a total of 605 members. 

The Slovenian Mutual Benefit Association (Slovenska Dobrodelna 
Zveza) is a Cleveland organization, whose charter pennits extension of its 
activities throughout the state. It was organized in November, 1910, and 
has its headquarters at 1052 East 62nd Street, where Frank Hudovcrnik is 
the efficient secretary. The president is Primoz Kogoj, 6518 Edna Avenue. 
In the eight and one-half years of its existence, this society has handled 
$158,115.44 in dues from its eighteen Cleveland branches. It has paid out 
$35,100 in death benefits, and $40,278.88 in sick benefits, to a total of 1,950 
beneficiaries, and it now has as capital .?75,011.45, of which .510,000 is in- 
vested in Liberty Bonds, and S700 in War Savings Stamps. The present 
membership is 1,926, including both men and women. 

Slovenian National Home. 

To provide a common home for the lodges of all these \-arious organiza- 
tions, an association incori)orated as The Slovenian National Home Associa- 
tion (Slovenska Narodna Dom), recently purchased property worth $50,000 
at 6409 St. Clair Avenue, and has remodeled the building into very desirable 
quarters, which will be formally opened on November 10th. 

19 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 




REV. B. J. PONIKVAR 
St. Vitus Church 



REV. J. J. OMAN 
St. Lawrence Church 



Political Organizations. 

There are two political organizations, of nation wide extent — the Slo- 
venian Republican Alliance (Slovensko Republicansko v Zdruzenje), and the 
Slovenian National Alliance (Slovenska Narodna Zveza). The latter society 
has as its president Paul Schneller, 6313 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland; secre- 
tary, Frank Hudovernik, 1052 East 62nd Street, and it takes a prominent 
part in the work of the Jugoslav National Council. 

Musical Organizations. 

An interesting organization is the Union of Jugoslav Singing Societies. 
(Zveza jugoslavonskih pevskih drustev), whose president is Primoz Kogoj, 
6518 Edna Avenue. It includes sixteen singing societies from various cities, 
and gives an extended musical program at its annual meeting. The Cleveland 
societies connected with it are the Slovenian "Edinost" and "Zvon" and the 
Croatian "Prosvjeta." 



20 



The Croatians 

THE first Croatians to settle in Cleveland apparently came here about 1887 
and 1888. Residents who came in 1890 report that a considerable num- 
ber were already here. Among the early settlers were John Popovic, Peter 
Kekic, Paul Kekic and John Rardic. The experience of Frank Kovacic, is typi- 
cal of these. Coming to America early in 1889, Mr. Kovacic went first to the 
mines of Pennsylvania, where he worked eight months. He preferred, however, 
to "live his life in the world," so with increased knowledge of American oppor- 
tunities, he came to Cleveland in November, 1889. His first job was on the 
streets of Cleveland, digging sewers. Then he got a job in the Lake Erie 
Iron Works, where he worked under the same boss for thirteen years, after 
which he went into business as a saloon keeper. 

At present there are probably about 10,000 Croatians in the city, and they 
have come hither from the various provinces of the Austro-Hungarian mon- 
archy. The majority are from Croatia itself, but there is a considerable 
number from Dalmatia, a smaller number from Sla'vonia, and a few from 
Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

Location in Cleveland. 

Their principal residence district is along St. Clair Avenue, and its inter- 
secting streets from about East 25th Street to East 70th Street. This whole 
colony lies north of Superior Avenue. 

The Croatians from Dalmatia have a settlement of their own between 
Scovill Avenue and Woodland Avenue, East 26th Street and East 31st Street, 
and an organic. ation, the Dalmatian Penevolent Society. This tendencj: to 
settle in grou; s, while often condemned by unthinking persons, is one of the 
most natural things in the world. Who does not wish to have as neighbors 
his own personal friends and people whose interests are sufficiently like his 
own to furnish topics for conversation and grounds for friendly intercourse? 
So the Croatian, coming to Cleveland, seeks a home next to some old friend, 
or, failing that, i^i the neighborhood of people of his own race, each individual 
of whom becomes to him a brother in exile. 

As they become acquainted with the country, the language and the city, 
they exercise a wider range of choice in the selection of a home; and greater 
independence in the search for employment. This results in a scattering 
through the city. There are now a considerable number of Croatians on the 
West Side, particularly along Frankhn Avenue, from West 14th Street to 
West 25th Street ; some in West Park, where they have bought land ; many in 
Collinwood; about ten families in Randall, where the men work at the ore 
docks; and about one hundred families scattered through the South End. 

21 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 




M. S. CERREZm 
Croatian Attorney 



JOHN L. MIBELICH 
Slovenian Attorney 



Occupations. 

Coming from a country where agriculture and a few hand trades are the 
only occupations, getting their first sight of a factory upon their introduction 
to work in America, these Croatians have inevitably had to begin life in this 
couiltr^' as unskilled laborers. Having real natural ability and those quali- 
ties of character which go to make dependable workers, some of them have 
risen to be foremen, while others have mastered such trades as electric weld- 
ing, other electric work, and carpentry. Many are employed in the various 
plants of the American Steel and Wire Company, in the Van Dom Iron 
Works, the Otis Steel Company, in the Lake Shore Shops at Collinwood, 
and in the various railroad roundhouses. Many of the girls and women are 
now responding to war demands by taking up shop work, in such plants as 
the National Screw & Tack Company. 

At home these Croatians were poor; perhaps 90% came to America to 
earn money to pay debts and to establish better conditions for themselves at 
home; but, as with every other immigrant race, they were drawn from their 
first intention by the irresistible appeal of American political liberty and 
economic freedom. Within the last five years the tendency to buy property 
has increased with great rapidity, and in some neighborhoods the number of 
property owners is now estimated as high as 50%. A few have returned to 
agricultural life, and it seems that with proper encouragement, this move- 
ment may be greatly accelerated. This return to the land has been greatest 
in the direction of West Park. 

: ;•• 22 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

Anxiety Resrarding Families in Europe. 

At least 500 men and proliably \-ery many more than that, had not yet 
been able to send for their families when the war broke out. Consequently 
they have been now for almost four years absolutely without news of those 
dearest to them. As Croatia is a rich a<:;ri cultural cotmtry, it is ho])ed that 
country people may be able to feed themselves; on the other hand, there is 
grave fear that the Austrian government may have requisitioned everything. 
It is known that all the horses were taken for military jmrposes, as early as 
the fall of 1914, so there is serious 'doubt as to the extent of the crops which 
it has been possible to raise since then. Therefore everyone of these men 
lives with the haunting fear that his family may be starving or dead, while 
he here is unable to help them. 

Organizations. 

The first Croatian organization in Cleveland was the St. Nicholas branch 
of the National Croatian Society, organized in 1895. There are now ten 
branches of this society in the city. 

Roman Catholic Church. 

The next organization was that of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 
initial steps toward which were taken in 1900, the organization completed 
in 1902, and the church built on East 40th Street, near St. Clair Avenue, 
in 1903. The first pastor of St. Paul's Church did not like America, and re- 
turned to Europe. For thirteen years, from 1904 to 1917, this church was 
under the charge of Rev. Don Niko Grskovic, who saw its congregation grow 
to five or six thousand. Father Grskovic was at all times greatly interested 
in the political fate of his country and his compatriots, and consequently a 
worker for South Slav freedom and unity. He is largely responsible for the 
present development of the South Slav movement in this country, and in 
December, 1917, he resigned his parochial duties to devote himself entirely 
to the national cause. He was succeeded in the parish by the Rev. M. G. 
Domladovac, the present pastor. 

Greek Catholic Church. 

Most Croatians arc Roman Catholics; but there are in Croatia sixty-five 
Greek Catholic parishes. Cleveland Croatians included emigrants from these 
parishes in sufficient numbers so that they formed a Greek Catholic Church 
organization, St. Nicholas Church, in the year 1902. 

These Greek Catholics occupy a very interesting middle place between 
the Roman Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. They are in communion 
with Rome, since they acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, and accept 
the filioqiie clause in the creed. In most other respects they follow the 
practices of the Eastern Church, including the communion in both kinds to 
the laity and the married clergy. 

In this country- they have their own ecclesiastical organization, but are 
very much handicai:)ped by lack of clergy. This lack caused a suspension of 
activity on the part of St. Nicholas church for ten years, from 1903 to 1913; 
then a plea to the clergy of Croatia resulted in a general deliberation there 
on the subject, and the Rev. Milan Hranilovic volunteered as the needed 
missionary to America. He is the only Croatian Greek Catholic priest in 
America, and as the Greek Catholics of every race in this country are very 

23 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 




REV. M. G. DOMLADOVAC 
St. Paul's Church 



REV. MILAN HRANILOVIC 
St. Nicholas Church 



short of clergy, Father Hranilovic is frequently called upon to assist pastor- 
less parishes of Greek Catholic Slovaks, Ruthenians, and Ukrainians. 

The service of the Greek Catholic Church is very beautiful. It is truly 
congregational in character, being antiphonal throughout. The congrega- 
tion, having been trained from childhood to their part in the service, respond 
with such completeness that one does not even notice the lack of musical 
instruments. The vestments of the clergy are also distinctive and beautiful, 
and the bursting into light of the canopy over the altar gives an indescribable 
exaltation. 

The visitor can only feel glad that these people who work so hard, often 
in such unlovely surroundings, have so much beauty in their religious life. 

Father Hranilovic is an accomplished musician, plays twenty-seven 
musical instruments, and trains among the young people of his congregation 
two choral groups and two orchestras. 

Croation Musical Instruments. 

The national musical instrument of the Croatians is a distinctive one, 
the tamburica, something like the harp; an orchestra is made up of various 
sizes of this instrument, from a small violin size, to one corresponding to the 
bass viol. 

It is significant of the general neglect which these submerged provinces 
have experienced on the part of the rest of Europe, that in such work as 
Grove's "Musical Dictionary," which gives the instruments of obscure South 
Sea Islands, and Central Africa, no mention is made of the characteristic 
instruments of this highly musical European race. 

24 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

Illustrations of the Croatian musical instruments arc therefore intro- 
duced in this publication for apparently the first time to the American 
public. These illustrations arc from the catalog of J. M. Dobranic Co., 
3830 St. Clair Avenue. Mr. Dobranic, after several years of work in 
Europe, began the manufacture of these instruments in Cleveland, in 1910, 
and his workmanship is known to his fellow countr\Tncn all over the world. 
Recently 500 instruments were shipped by him to Chile, and he has a photo- 
graph of an orchestra using these Cleveland-made instruments in Puntas 
Arenas, Chile, an extreme southern point. 

Fraternal Organizations. 

The princijial Croatian fraternal society is the National Croatian So- 
cietv (Narodna Hrvatska Zajednica), which has its headquarters at 1012 
Peralta St., N. S. Pittsburg, Pa. It has $949,964.86 capital, $300,000 of 
which is invested in Liberty Bonds, has paid benefits to the amount of 
more than $6,000,000, and it publishes a weekly newspaper, "Zajednicar." 

Its membership is 42,764, divided among 428 branches, whose distribu- 
tion is as follows: 

Pennsylvania .... 144 Iowa 11 New Mexico .... 5 Texas 2 

Ohio 30 California 10 New Jersey 5 Nevada 2 

Colorado 18 New York 10 Wisconsin 4 Tennessee 1 

West Virginia ... 15 Indiana 9 Wyoming 3 Oregon 1 

Minnesota 16 Missouri 8 Nebraslca 2 Idaho 1 

Michigan 19 Utah 7 South Dakota .. , 2 Alaska . 1 

Washington 11 Kansas 6 Connecticut 2 British Columbia 3 

Montana 12 Arizona 5 

The distribution of Croatians in Ohio is indicated by the following list 
of places having branches of this organization : 

Akron Cleveland Lorain Struthers 

Aultman Co'umbus Lowellville Yorkville 

Brewster Dayton Mingo Junction Youngstown 

Canton East Youngstown South Lorain 

There is no distinctive Croatian newspaper in Cleveland. Radnicka 
Borba, pubhshed at 3413 St. Clair Avenue, by the South Slavic Socialist 
Labor Party Federation, is printed partly in Croatian, and partly in Serbian. 
The editors claim to be internationalists, and as such refuse to call them- 
selves either Croatian or Serbian. 

Personal Characteristics. 

Personally and individually, the Croatians of Cleveland present the ap- 
pearance of a ver>' desirable race of people. Of excellent physique, they have 
the broad forehead, the well-placed eyes, and the general cast of countenance 
which we associate with our most intelligent types. A Croatian in conversa- 
tioa displays so clearly, both in his manner of speaking and in the play of 
expression upon his countenance, an alert mind and a keen intelligence, that 
it is impossible to watch him without respect, even though one does not 
understand his language. 

Political Organizations. 

Politicallv the Croatians are organized into the Croatian Alliance 
(Hrvatski Savez), whose officers are: president. Rev. Niko Grskovic, 932 
Southern Building, Washington. D. C; secretary, Kosto Unkovic, 117 Black- 
well Building, Pittsburg, Pa.; treasurer, Dr. Ante Biankini, 3207 Indiana 
Avenue, Chicago. This alliance works in harmony with the Jugoslav Na- 
tional Council. 

25 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF C L E V E L A N D 




Hi 



ij 



II 



"iU.l 



d 



BUGARIJA 



BRAC 



26 



The Serbians 



THE Serbians do not constitute a large part of Cleveland's population at 
present. Before the war there were perhaps two thousand here. Most 
of them were quite recent immigrants, therefore they included a large pro- 
portion of men without families. 

Some of these have gone to other cities to work, particularly to Detroit 
and to Akron, Ohio, but the majority have gone into military service. The 
Serbian Sokol (gymnastic training society) members were from the ver>' 
beginning eager to make their training of service, and their organization was 
consequently broken up through the enlistment of its members. All Serbian 
men seem to have felt the call to arms as a call especially to them, and most 
of them who were free to do so, have gone into some one of the allied annies. 
Many from Cleveland are in the United States army; others are in the Jugo- 
slav army on the Saloniki front, now happily in Serbia. 

A mobilization camp has been maintained at Sussex, N. B., by the Serbian 
National Defense League, and to this men have been sent who, because of 
their technical standing as subjects of Austria-Hungary, were not eligible 
for servdce in the United States army. Over three hundred men have been 
sent there through the Cleveland organization. 

Over S6,000 has been contributed by Cleveland Serbs to the support of 
the national cause and to Serbian Relief work, besides their subscriptions as 
Americans to Liberty Bonds, War Savings Stamps, War chest, and other 
causes. 

The Serbians now in the city impress one as a very intelligent and 
desirable class of people, and they include, in proportion to their numbers, a 
considerable number of business men. 

Numerous efiforts have been made to establish a church, the Serbians 
being Greek Orthodox in religion. So far the enterprise has not been very 
successful, owing in part no doubt to the somewhat unsettled nature of the 
colony, and more to the difficulty of securing clergy. The present pastor is 
Rev. Nikodem Stoyakovich, 1374 East 66th Street, who served in the Serbian 
army, shared in the Great Retreat, was wounded, eventually got to France, 
and thence came to Cleveland. The church, known as St. Sava's church, 
is on East 34th St. near St. Clair Avenue. 

There are three fraternal organizations having wide distributions among 
the Serbs. The oldest is "Srbobran" having headquarters at 12th and Carson 
Streets, Pittsburg. 

Next is "Sloga," of which Prof. M. I. Pupin of Columbia University is 
president. The third is "Sloboda." 

27 



THE 



JUGOSLAVS 



O F 



CLEVELAND 




Serbian Sokol 

The political organization of the Serbs in America is "The Serbian 
National Defense League of America." Its headquarters are at 441 West 
22nd Street, New York, and its president is Prof. Milos Trivunac of the 
University of Belgrade. The secretary is Nikola Knezevic, 12th and Carson 
Streets, Pittsburg. The League is a supporter of the Jugoslav National 
Council, and directs its energies toward the establishment of a free Jugoslavia, 
which shall include in one state the three peoples, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. 

The latest war news indicates that this state is already an accomplished 
fact, and it will be a happy thing if these representatives who have had the 
broadest and best opportunities for knowledge of American governmental 
ideals, mav assist in establishing^ in their home land a true democratic state. 



28 



Jugoslav Newspapers published in the 
United States: 

CROATIAN. 

Daily 
Jugoslovenski Svijet 461 8th Ave. , New York 

Weekly 

Hrvatska 313 6th Ave., Calumet, Mich. 

Hrvatski Glasnik 1420 East Ohio St., Pittsburg 

Hrvatski Rodoljub Pittsburg 

Jugoslovenska Zastava Chicago 

Jugoslov^enski Jadran 110 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, Cal. 

Oslobodjenje 118 East Market St., Los Angeles, Cal. 

Zajednicar 1012 Poralta St., Pittsburg 

Semi-Monthly 
lUustrovani List New York 

Monthly 

Pomladak Pittsburg 

Sokol 59 West St. John St., San Jose, Cal. 

CROATIAN-SERBIAN. 

Weekly 

Radnicka Borba 3413 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland 

Radnicka Obrana Duluth, Minn. 

SERBIAN 

Daily 

Americanski Srbobran 12th and Carson Sts., Pittsburg 

Srpski Dnevnik 417 Lafayette St. , New York 

Srbobran 443 West 22nd St. , New York 

Weekly 

Balkanski Svijet 318 South Canal St., Chicago 

Srpski Glasnik 1034 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, Cal. 

Srpska Straza Box 2, Branch D, New York 

Ujedinjeno Srpstvo 318 South Canal St., Chicago 

Vrac Akron, Ohio 

Semi-monthly 
Srpska Zaduzbina Box 233. Chicago, 111. 

Monthly 
Jugoslavia Chicago, 111. 

29 



THE JUGOSLAVS OF CLEVELAND 

SLOVENIAN. 
Daily 

Enakopravnost 6418 St. Clair, Ave. , Cleveland 

Glas Naroda 82 Cortlandt St., New York 

Prosveta 2657 South Lawndale St., Chicago, 111. 

Tri-weekly 

Clevelandska Amerika 6119 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland 

Semi-weekly 

Amerikanski Slovenec 1006 N. Chicago St., Chicago, 111. 

Glas Svobode 2656 South Crawford Ave., Chicago, 111. 

Weekly 

Glasilo K. S. K. J 1952 West 22nd Place, Chicago, 111. 

Proletarec 4008 West 31st St., Chicago, 111. 

Sloga 6120 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland 

Slovenija 383 First Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. 

Slovenske Novice 707 7th Ave., Calumet, Mich. 

Semi-monthly 

Ave Maria 62 St. Mark's Place, New York 

Slovenski Ilustrovani List 5227 Butler St., Pittsburg 

Monthly 

Cas 2711 South Millard Ave., Chicago, 111. 

Slovenska Druzina 383 First Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. 



30 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 573 701 1 W 




